Digital Signage for Hotels

Digital signage for hotels means screens in the places guests already look. The lobby, the lifts, the conference floor, the restaurant door. One system runs all of them. Breakfast moves to 7am? A meeting changes room? You change it once and the right screens update.

Lots of hotels still use printed sheets and easel boards, and the front desk answers the same few questions over and over. Screens do this job better. On this page we cover where digital signage for hotels helps, what to put on each screen, and how MRG Systems sets it all up.

Why hotels are moving away from printed signs

Printed signs go wrong in a few ways. A plan changes and the sign is wrong straight away. A week later the corners curl and it looks shabby. Then somebody has to go floor to floor with a roll of tape. Screens sort this out. A late room change shows up in minutes, no trip to the printer. Every floor looks the same because the template is set. Staff spend less time swapping signs, and more time with guests.

Where digital signage for hotels works best

Lobby and reception

Guests make up their mind about a hotel in the first minute, so start with the lobby. A screen there can welcome a wedding party or a company group by name. It can show the weather and tonight's restaurant times. It can also answer what people would ask at check-in, like where breakfast is served, what time the pool opens and who to ask about a cab. Queues at reception get shorter and nobody has to say a word.

Events and conference floors

Conference days are when paper signs pile up. With screens, one event board near the lifts can list every session by room and by time. A small screen at each door shows the meeting name and when it starts. Room changed at 9am? Delegates see the new room before they walk to the old one. LiveSpace can read event details from calendars and other data feeds, where your systems allow it. So nobody types the same schedule twice.

Wayfinding in larger hotels

Big hotels lose guests in corridors. Screens at lift lobbies and junctions can point the way to the spa, the gym, the ballroom and the meeting suites. Portrait screens fit well in narrow corridors and lift areas.

Restaurant, bar and spa

A printed menu can't keep up with a whole day. A screen can show breakfast until 11, lunch specials after that, then cocktails from 6. In the spa, a screen can show which treatment slots are still open this afternoon. That helps fill gaps that would go unsold otherwise.

Back of house

Staff screens in a kitchen corridor or break room can show shift notices, VIP arrivals and the day's occupancy. Guests never see them. The team does, and they take the place of lots of sticky notes and group chat messages.

What to put on each screen

Our rule for digital signage for hotels is easy. One screen, one job. Someone waiting for a lift wants something short. A delegate arriving at a conference wants a room number and nothing more. People glance at hotel screens while they walk, so use large text and keep the message brief.

• Reception: welcome message, weather, today's events and restaurant times
• Lifts and landings: evening offers, spa availability and the room service menu, changing through the day
• Restaurant and bar: menus, specials and the next event
• Conference floor: room allocations, session times and directions to breakout rooms
• Gym and pool: opening hours, class times and safety notices

Good signage feels like part of the building. If a screen has no clear job, leave it out.

Choosing the best digital signage for hotel teams

The best digital signage for hotel use is the one your staff will actually keep updated. A fancy system nobody opens after month one is worse than a plain one that gets used every day. So any digital signage for hotel project should start with the people who will run it day to day. When you compare suppliers, ask some direct questions:

• Can different parts of the hotel show different content?
• Can it pull from the calendars and systems you already use?
• Can a hotel group keep the brand central while each site adds its own local content?
• Who installs the screens, and who picks up the phone when something breaks?

Digital signage for hotels only works well when you have clear answers to these before you buy anything. Hardware matters too. A lobby display has to look good and run all day. A poolside screen must handle humidity. A screen facing a window needs enough brightness to beat daylight. We pick commercial-grade screens for each spot, not one model for the whole building.

LiveSpace: one dashboard for every screen

LiveSpace is the cloud platform behind our digital signage for hotels. You log in from a browser, pick the screens and change what they show. You can schedule content ahead, so the Christmas menu goes live on the right morning. You can also set content to expire, so old offers don't hang around.

Hotel groups can run every property from one place, and each hotel still looks after its own local content. A boutique hotel with one lobby screen and a group with twenty sites use the same platform. The brand stays the same across all of them, which matters once your signage covers more than one site.

If a system can't connect directly, a calendar or spreadsheet feed is often enough. We look at your setup in the consultation and tell you what is realistic.

How MRG Systems sets up digital signage for hotels

We start with a visit. We walk the property with you, note where guests stop and wait, and look at any screens you have already. Then we agree a plan for what each screen is for.

Our own UK engineers install every screen and get it running. After that, our support team in Gloucestershire can help the same day. They are the people who built LiveSpace, so you don't get passed between a reseller and a software company.

MRG Systems has worked in visual communication for 43 years. We support more than 25,000 connected screens for over 100 organisations. Hospitality is a sector we know well, and we would rather talk through your hotel than sell you a standard package.

Start small, then add more

Digital signage for hotels doesn't have to be a big project. You don't need to fit out the whole building at once. A first project can be as small as one lobby screen and an event board. Many hotels add more after the team sees what works.

Refurbishing or opening a new property? Plan the network early, because cabling is far easier before the walls are finished. For groups, the later hotels usually go live faster than the first one, since the templates are already built.

Let's walk around your hotel

The easiest way to plan this is to stand in your lobby and talk it through. We will visit, look at what you have, suggest where screens would help and give you a clear quote. Book a free consultation, ask for a demo, or call +44 (0)1453 820 840 and talk to the UK team directly.